Lees Solicitors - Report "names and shames" failing NHS Trusts - Roneeta Lodh

Clinical Negligence News

Report "names and shames" failing NHS Trusts - Roneeta Lodh


Report

Twelve NHS hospital Trusts have been assessed as "significantly underperforming" in the annual Dr Foster Hospital Guide; prepared by the Dr Foster Partnership, a collaboration between the NHS and a private agency.

Trusts were assessed based on a variety of factors such as mortality rates, infection rates and staffing levels. The findings are even more shocking given that nine of the twelve Trusts in question were recently rated as good or excellent by the NHS' own regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and at least three of them have been accredited with elite "foundation" status.

The twelve worst performing Trusts in Dr Foster's league table have been named as:

• Basildon and Thurrock NHS Foudnation Trust
• Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals Foundation Trust
• Hereford Hospitals Trust
• Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust
• Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust
• Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Care NHS Trust
• South London Healthcare Trust
• St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals Trust
• Tameside Hospital Foundation Trust
• University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
• University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
• Weston Area Health Trust

Dr Foster also identified 27 NHS Trusts with unusually high mortality rates, leading to an estimated 5,000 avoidable deaths last year.

Other findings in Dr Foster's report included:

• Widespread safety issues including 39 per cent of Trusts "failing to investigate unexpected deaths or cases of serious harm on their wards."

• Items such as swabs and drill bits were left inside patients after surgery in at least 209 cases and surgeons operated on the wrong part of a body at least 82 times.

• 5,024 people died after being admitted for "low-risk" conditions, of whom 848 patients were under 65.

• 478 operations were also cancelled in 2008/09 because patient notes were missing.

Following the release of Dr Foster's report, Health Secretary Andy Burnham has ordered an urgent review by the CQC of any hospitals with a high death rate or other areas of concern.

At Lees Solicitors LLP our clinical negligence team deal with a variety of matters, including substandard care provided in NHS Hospitals. Please contact a member of our team on 0151 647 9381 or 0800 387 927.

Roneeta Lodh


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